Julia can’t get laid off from her job at Trendlist. She’ll do anything to keep it - including take an assignment that brings her to Notting Hill, a resort promising to have your week’s stay feel like a romantic comedy.

The chances of finding true love at a manufactured event are slim to none, but when she runs into Luke on the beach, there was something undeniable... right? Told in dual perspectives, and crammed full of fun romcom references, Too Good To Be Real is the perfect escape.

This book has so much going on - antics, secrets, drama and even thieving seagulls. The paintball scene was my fave, and I especially loved the empty nester couple who came to rekindle their spark. Also, LARPing but in a contemporary romance setting? We stan.

If you’re looking for a carefree summer romance, looks like you found it!

As an echo from another reviewer here, the first pages of this book just turned me straight off. I think I might be getting too old for these contemporary romances. It's definitely me. DNF.

Too Good to Be Real was a delight!

Great rom-com.

I loved the characters, especially Julia. When she comes upon a resort that specializes in having their guest live out their romantic comedy dreams she can't help but join. How can you not love this book? It has seagulls, corgis, kisses in the rain, and of course Luke.

Highly recommend Too Good to Be Real!!

Too Good to Be Real by Melonie Johnson was too good for words! I LOVED this book! Three best friends staying at a charming rom-com inspired resort with hijinx and handsome leading men, what's not to love? The writing was smart and sweet! This book leans into the rom-com tropes, but doesn't feel totally fantasy. I loved the realness of the world Johnson created and would visit Notting Hill Resort in a heartbeat if it was real! Please write a follow up book I need to spend more time with these characters!

What a cute storyline. Julia winds up at a resort that promises to make you feel like you’re in a romantic comedy.
Surprisingly, it is because of her worry about job security that leads her there. She offers to go write an article about Notting Hill (the resort) and their rom com experience.
She might also be a bit cynical about love and wondering if even she can enjoy the experience.
She certainly isn’t counting on meeting Luke the minute she shows up there with her friends.

Luke wasn’t planning for his kind of meet cute with Julia either. This is his place of work after all. He isn’t one of the actors but he does work for the resort abc wasn’t going to be part of the “game” as they call it. But he thinks Julia’s friend is the reviewer and he thinks it’s best to keep close to the group of women to make sure they have a good time and a good review is written.

Lines get blurry as the girls start wondering if they are actually falling for the men at the resort. They can’t tell exactly what parts are true either because the whole rom com experience is a game. How can they trust their feelings?

With Julia and Luke both intentionally misrepresenting themselves to each other, it’s putting quite an obstacle in the path of something that could be the real thing.

I thought the recreations of popular scenes from rom coms was quite cute. I watch a lot of them and I hadn’t even noticed his common some of the storylines are.

I’d like to recommend that if you like the idea of this storyline that you should definitely, definitely read Austenland and also Well Met (and the other books in that series).

I won a copy of the physical book from Goodreads and an ebook copy from NetGalley. Thanks! I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another book in this series set at the same resort at Christmastime.

This book was adorable! I never thought I'd end up reading a romcom about romcoms, but here I am. And I regret nothing. This was worth every minute I spent on it!

My favorite part of this isn't even the characters. It's not the plot. It's a pair of seagulls named Bonnie and Clyde. It's our cockblocking friends who made a living off of theft. It's the seagulls that brought our characters together. In case you don't get it yet, I love these guys. Every time they showed up on the page, I knew it was about to be a fun scene.

I figure that's enough about the seagulls, and I should probably discuss the romance. Like every other romcom, the romance is pure fluff. Fluff is a good thing though! This was a super quick read, and it kept me hooked the entire time. Luke and Julia had so many iconic romcom moments, which I loved. I also loved that they communicated, and their problems weren't dragged on.

Finally, Mrs. W made this book even better than it would've been otherwise. She was an absolute character, and between her corgis and fashion sense, I was dying every time she stepped onto the page. Seriously, I'd read an entire book about her alone.

If you're in the mood for a fluffy romance, I'd definitely recommend this! It had all of the iconic moments I look for in romcoms, and added it's own special flare to them. I'll definitely end up rereading this one!

Thanks to Melonie Johnson and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me. I had a hard time getting into it, especially in the beginning. It wasn't my type of humor and that always impacts my ability to get into a book. I also couldn't connect with Julia which is the MC. Because of these two reasons I decided to dnf. I just wasn't enjoying my reading experience and didn't feel like pushing through for the sake of it. I am sure others will enjoy this book. It's just the case of, "it's me, not you."

Okay that was a lot of fun. It was a rom-com on steroids! It highlights so many of my favorite things about rom-coms. A light and fun summer read that is guaranteed to leave the reader smiling. Great dialogue and fun characters and situations.

Your one-stop shop for humor, steam, and corgi butts. There's no point lying about the fact that I requested this book from NetGalley based solely on the corgi on the cover and didn't even read the description. Thankfully, I was not disappointed.

There are a lot of great things in <i>Too Good to Be Real</i>, but my favorite element was the humor. Talk about putting the com in rom-com! Melonie Johnson's dialogue and situations had me laughing out loud. If there's one thing you should read this book for, it's the seagulls. Every time the seagulls showed up, I ended up in a fit of giggles. The sheer goofiness of so many situations encountered by the main characters brought me pure joy. As someone who grew up in Wisconsin and has made a similar mistake, I got an extra kick out of Julia deciding to swim in Lake Michigan in June. If you know, you know.

3.5 stars. I enjoyed the concept for this rom-com. The setting being a rom-com movie LARP experience was pretty unique. I felt the two main characters had good chemistry and it was fun to both see them interact and to get both their points of view of said interactions. It wasn’t completely clear on what drew them together, and looking back, their relationship moved in light speed. Almost kissing someone you haven’t even really met yet? Sleeping with someone you’ve known for a couple days? Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned, but those things seem like potentially a little problematic. However, because both characters came off as so likable and level-headed, I was able to get past it. I really enjoyed the side characters and finding out who was paired up in the end. I can definitely see a sequel happening with Julia’s friends.
Anyone who is into rom-com movies would probably get a kick out of all the references during the LARP experience. There could probably could have been even more included for the true true rom-com fans, but for someone like me, who is only a casual fan of rom-coms, it was sufficient. I’d recommend this to pretty much anyone who is a big fan of rom-coms books, but for anyone wanting some depth in what they’re reading, this may not be for you. This was a fun, light read.

This was such an adorable fun read. I loved every minute of it, and I couldn’t put it down! The romance between Luke and Julia was written so well! This story made me smile so many times, and laugh as well. Definitely recommended for romance readers!

Thank you Netgallery for this arc!

This super-cute book gives readers all the 'warm and fuzzies' of a great rom-com! It's chock full of fun movie references and self-aware trope characters. While the the story follows the predictable rom-com plot journey, it is still a hoot to read and a great escape from these crazy COVID times. Be sure to make it your next beach, or staycation, read! Thank you to NetGelley for the opportunity to read and review.

3.5 Stars. I really loved the premise of this book - I mean who doesn't love romantic comedies? The idea of staying at a hotel that helps your pretend you are in a movie is such a great and fun concept. It was overall a fun read, but unfortunately the story itself just fell a bit flat for me. The character development felt a little rushed and I just didn't feel as connected to Julia and Luke as I would have liked. It was a cute a romantic story though, with some good comedy throughout. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC.

A suer cute and sweet stay with a side of rom com humor and storyline. After all, they are trying to live out a rom com. It was a rom com within a rom com!

This book was fast paced and fun laugh out loud book that I think would be perfect as a beach read or vacation read. The characters are likable both individually and together. There were many great laugh out loud moments that made me really enjoy the story.

Too Good to Be Real is a fast paced, sweet and funny beach read! Julia and Luke were both likable and their romance was sweet. However, the best part to me was both of the trios (Kat, Andie and Jules & Luke, Pen and Jay.) The conversations the girls have throughout the book are hilarious! (I mean the first sentence in the book is gold.)

Of course, I loved all the rom-com movie references and tropes throughout the novel!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

As a romance reader, you often wish that most of the meet cutes you read about could happen in real life, right?! What if there was a resort where you could play out a rom-com? Would you attend?

With another round of layoffs coming, website writer Julia is open to anything to keep her job. A resort that simulates popular rom-coms? Why not! After literally falling into a meet cute that isn’t so cute, Julia meets adorkable computer programmer Luke. As they meet, Julia hides the fact that she’s there to write a story on the resort. What she doesn’t know is that he’s hiding secrets from her as well.

I adored this book. Julia and Luke were fun characters and I found myself laughing with some of their awkwardness and humor! The idea of Too Good to Be Real is such a breath of fresh air and I loved the originality of it!

4.5 out of 5 stars!

Wanting to save her career, the heroine goes to a rom-com at a resort where the hero works at, their first interaction is under a misunderstanding. Their consequential interactions deepens their own relationship as time passed away. But how will the couple react as the initial misunderstanding unravels...

I enjoyed this Melonie Johnson book. I liked the couple as individuals and together. The couple each have wonderful friends who have their backs. The animals mentioned in the book were prominent within their roles and some secondary characters were entertaining. The author's vibe is enjoyable and the story is pleasing to read. Definitely will read more books from the author in the future.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own.**

This was a laugh out loud read that I really enjoyed! Julia and her two friends spend a week at Notting Hill, a week-long immersive retreat into the world of romantic comedy movies such as When Harry Met Sally, Sex and the City, Bridget Jones Diary and more. Julia hits it off with Luke, and the two end up living their own version of romantic comedy (and there's a little bit of heat thrown in the mix!), and Julia's friends end up having some adventures of their own.

For the most part I really loved the story. The idea of going to a one-week retreat based on romantic-comedy movies/stories was so much fun, and in a lot of ways, the story followed a plot of a rom-com movie (which I'm sure was the point). I wasn't completely blown away by the writing, but the book caught my attention quickly and had me literally laughing at times, so I'm glad I read it.

If you're in the mood for a fun, quick read, this is a good choice: there are cases of mistaken identity, love at first sight, a thieving seagull couple, lots of corgis and great movie references.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to review this ARC!

This was a fun book to read. You will laugh out reading this book and fall in love all at the same time. I love the idea of a rom-com fantasy week to go to at a resort. Who wouldn't love to go and have a great time being in a rom-com. If you happen to follow in love in life than that's even better. The only thing I wished for was an epilogue but was still so much fun to read this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily after being sent a free book.